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Essence
Essence, also called quintessence, is the energy that 'powers' most spells and varieties of magic. Essence can be stored in a reliquary. Essence flows along ley lines, and a sufficiently powerful and talented mage, usually a mutant with a high level Wizard Trait, can directly draw ambient essence form the ley lines or even manipulate the ley lines themselves for certain effects. Essence and Ki/Chi Essence is closely related, but not identical, to Ki/Chi, the life force energy powering taoist magic and other variants of eastern magic''Five Elements Dancing: Book of the Earth'' as well as higher level martial arts. For instance some powerful mages can draw essence directly from living beings, knocking them out in the process,Ayla and the Birthday Brawl: Chapter 4 - The Legend of Cambel and Triamond, or of Friendship and a mutant with natural Ki control is thought to be an attractive prospect as a "power battery" for mages of all traditions, even those using essence.Tea and Synergy This suggests that converting Ki to essence is relatively simple and straightforward. Lighting Essence Normal baseline humans start out with at best a negligible amount of essence. To be able to cast spells on a regular basis prospective mages must acquire a certain amount of essence, either painstakingly gathering it over a period normally spanning years, or receiving it from a mentor. This essence can then be "lit" in a ritual, allowing for a steady supply of essence thereafter. The lit essence is called investment and can itself also been drawn upon, but since this implies a corresponding loss of the steady supply mages are very reluctant to do so.Silver Linings: Part 1Kristin Darken on the Crystal Hall Forums The Three Little Witches are unwilling to wait as long as they would need to gather it the normal way and seek faster ways to acquire essence so they can light it right away and finally do some "fun" magic.The Three Little Witches Sealing a Mage's Essence A mage can also have their essence sealed. Circe has a necklace that serves that purpose.The Riddle of Sappho: Canto II It also one of the worst traumas a student of Whateley Academy can experience.The Riddle of Sappho: Canto III Wasting Essence the boundary between creative thought and actually invoking Essence."The Riddle of Sappho: Canto IV Mrs. Chulkris took over the explanation. "If you are writing a story or having a dream, you are using your imagination with no intention of making it real. If you're daydreaming about a fantasy," she noticed the quick glance exchanged between the girls, "you might have some desire to make that fantasy real, and without strong Will, your Essence will attempt to form to fulfill your desire according to the rules and laws of magic - and you lose Essence without intending to. A student mage has to learn to keep control of those daydreams and fantasies, to strengthen his or her Will, so as to not dissipate Essence."The Riddle of Sappho: Canto IV References Category:Concepts Category:Magic